Wednesday, July 6, 2011

How do you feel about housewives/stay-at-home mothers vs career mothers?

In a modern world we live now, I guess working mothers are quite common. I'm also a working mother. In fact, my working schedule is a bit different from normal working mothers.

Yes, I agree memang sepatutnya suami is designated to be a provider and protector. But did you know that one of the largest sources of stress for husbands in the modern day is an inability to provide enough for their families so that their wife can stay at home? Di tambah pula dengan situasi di Malaysia sekarang ni harga barang2 dah naik, of course family expenses pon will be increased. Problem is gaji yang tak naik2. So macam manalah husband tak stress kan. That's where, working wife come to rescue.

I know a lot of people view working, career mothers as abandoning their children. Yelar, pergi kerja time anak belum bangun, then balik kerja when it is about their bedtime. Got to spend only few hours with the kids everyday. Tu pon kalau anak2 tak tidur awal. Some might say working mothers are not truly raising their kids, being selfish and self-centered.

While stay-at-home mothers, have all day to do what they want without a lot of responsibility. They don’t have to report to a boss or file paperwork nor have annoying, gossipy co-workers to deal with.

I believe every mother in this world wants the best for their kids. Obviously anyone would want to be there for their children. Setiap ibu nak experience the big milestones of their children. We want to see when they started crawling, walking, eat the first solid food, hear the first word.

I also believe in quality over quantity. There are many stay at home mothers don't spend the best quality time with their children. While working mothers, might only have an hour a day and the weekends, BUT they make the most of that time and do memorable things with their child. It can go either way.

Every family is different, people all have different circumstances. A mother does what is best for the family. Doesn't matter they are working or stay-at-home mother. I want my kids to say this to me in the future "Ibu, Thank you for raising us well and we are proud of you on what you've done". InsyaAllah.

Last weekend, a good friend of mine offered me to join him to go to Miri. He had to run some errands in Miri and his friend invited him to go to his house. Since I had nothing to do at home in Brunei, I went to Miri with him. My first intention to go there was definitely to spend some moolah..haha..dah lama rasanya I didn't do the "real" shopping..online shopping toksah habaq la nooo....

Since we arrived quite early, my brain suddenly triggered 'hey why not we go to Grand Old Lady?'..I've been wanting to go to this place for so long since the first time I visited Miri but never had any chance to go. Selalu dok dengar orang duk cerita² jer pasal this place. This place is one of the place you should put in your itinerary when you come to Miri.

The Grand Old Lady, Malaysia’s first inland oil drilling platform and one of Sarawak’s most important historical monuments.This landmark is about 30 meters high, Located on top of Canada Hill overlooking Miri, it attracts locals to enjoy the scenery or jog on the well-designed path.

So dekat dengan the Grand Old Lady tu ada Muzium Petroleum..Boleh visit untuk tahu lebih lanjut macam mane terhasilnya petrol yang you all pump for your car..From how the hydrocarbon formed million years ago sampai la how the end product has been produced (Diesel, Gasoline, petrol etc.)Inside the museum tu ade fun area jugak for the kids. Not bad jugak lah kan. One of the game provided is this 'car'..If you wanna experience earth quake while driving a car, don't be afraid to hop on into this car...it was really fun!

I didn't miss the opportunity to mesmerize the scenery from the top of Canada Hill..You can see bandar Miri from here..

If you had a chance to visit Miri, you can take the chance to visit this place. Ooh you don't have to spend a penny to visit this place including the Petroleum Museum. They are FOC.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

How are guys doing? I'm just having usual routine on Sunday. Being lazy on the couch watching Glee-athon. By the way, I'm still in Brunei. Last 2 weeks, husband and Emir came by here to visit me. It was not a surprise anymore since hubby already informed me before hand. So awal2 lagi I dah arrange transport to pick him up at Miri airport. Why Miri and not going to Brunei straight if you were to ask. It's because Miri is more nearer to my place (Seria) than Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). It takes almost 1-1/2 hours driving from BSB to Seria but less than an hour from Miri to Seria. Kenapa nak waste time kan??!

We spent one night in Miri, before drove back to Seria the next morning. We rented a car from Miri because it's a bit cheaper compared to Brunei. Tak banyak beza sangat pon & downside of renting car with Malaysia's plate number is susah sangat nak cari petrol station yang boleh refuel & accept kereta yang hold Malaysia's plate number. Let say if dalam five petrol station in Seria, maybe one of them jer accept kereta berplate number Malaysia. The petrol price pon a bit different compared to car holding Brunei's plate number but still a way cheaper than harga minyak dekat Malaysia la. Petrol price for Brunei's car is around BND 0.30/liter (MYR 0.70/liter) but for Malaysia's car yang nak refuel dekat Brunei, we have to pay BND 0.80/liter (MYR 1.95/liter). Until now I totally can't comprehend why harga minyak dekat Malaysia mencanak2 naik padahal harga minyak dekat Brunei still very low. Okay, I don't want to discuss about petrol price now. Next!

Hubby & Emir spent almost a week with me in Brunei. Takdelah pergi mana sangat pon since I have to work during weekday. Boring kan?! but I have to save my days off for Hari Raya and other important occasions. Ada lah one day tu I balik awal sikit because we wanted to bring Emir to Jerudung Park. Jerudung Park buka pukul 5 petang. I worked half day and after lunch kami gerak to Jerudung. Jerudung is quite far from Seria and it took more than 1 hour to reach there.

We first pay a visit to an Equestrian Park closed by Jerudung Park. We arrived just on time, since it was feeding time. So dapat la tengok kuda tengah makan..Not only that, kuda2 tu tanpa segan silu poo poo & pee pee jugak. Hehe. Emir loves animal so much!! His top on the list still a cat & by now he can recognize more than 10 animals/insects which explain kenapa banyak sangat games/flash card apps dalam iPhone aku yang berdasarkan animal.

I have to admit that I actually feel a bit disappointed with Jerudung Park. The park itself really not as what I expected it would be. Not even closed. Masa aku kecik, I always heard people saying that Jerudung Park is one of the place person should visit in Brunei. Some even says, Jerudung Park is more fun and thrill compared to Sunway Lagoon..Oh come on! It is not even the same..Taman Tasik Titiwangsa lagi baguih kot..It maybe used to be one of the best attraction in Brunei. With very poor maintenance, I don't think they can survive any longer. To the extend aku takut nak bagi Emir main dekat playground dekat situ because slide dia pon macam hampir patah..There's a lot of cracks and chip edges around the playground. Totally not safe for children. Masa kami pergi pon tak ramai orang sangat. According to one of the worker yang kami jumpa dekat situ, dia cakap even during school holiday pon tak ramai visitors datang. I think management team should think of something to improve this park..maybe revamp the park..build new rides which can attract teenagers and adults to come and play..Sebab most of the rides yang ada is only for kids below 12 years old..duhh someone tell me now how on earth this park can beat Sunway Lagoon..

I'm now in Brunei for a vacation..tettt..nope..I'm here of course because of work. I traveled to Brunei from Labuan three times in this month. Dah lah by boat! So bad the company wants to cut cost. And by that, I mean always!! My body just getting tired by traveling and I just didn't get enough rest. So I decided not to go to the base today. There's no point going to the base especially on Sunday, if I'm just doing my work in front of my laptop. I can do that at home on the cozy sofa and in front of TV, no?

Oo yeah, I guess I haven't shared the good news with you guys. I don't know if you guys noticed in my facebook status or not...No..no..I'm not yet pregnant..not yet..InsyaAllah we are working on that..Well, actually I just got transfer back to Malaysia! Alhamdulillah. Finally, I'm getting closer to my family. Though I'm not assigned to be working in KL but at least I know I have flexible time to go home more often and my husband also can always come and visit me in Labuan. That's great! I promise myself and my family that I will work on to get any position in KL. Pray for me!

I think I just lost a bit of writing mojo after wait.....I guess 2 months since the last entry was posted in this blog..hahaha..that long, ey?!! I was almost shutting down this blog. ("-_-)